


Ti cerca chi ti vuole

by KittyHawke



Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF
Genre: Blind Date, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:35:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyHawke/pseuds/KittyHawke
Summary: Fabrizio has agreed to go on his very first blind date and is already regretting his decision, at least until Ermal walks through the door. Tonight may be more successful than either of them expected...
Relationships: Ermal Meta/Fabrizio Moro
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Ti cerca chi ti vuole

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago based on a prompt I've always liked. It was great to finally find a fandom I could use it for. I hope you enjoy reading.

Fabrizio had really tried not to show up early, but the notoriously slow Roman traffic had conspired against him and failed to hold him back on the one occasion when he wished it to. He had arrived at the restaurant ten minutes early and now sat at a table on the lower level, the cold breeze from outside hitting him every time the door opened. He was halfway through his first glass of wine and now looked at his phone for the fourth time. In three minutes, his date was due to walk through that door. He hoped that they wouldn’t be fashionably late because he didn’t think he could handle the suspense.

He took another fortifying gulp of wine, looking up as another blast of cold air hit him. He nearly choked on the liquid in his mouth. The man who had just walked in had curly hair, just as the description had said, but that simple word was a complete misrepresentation. His curls were not stringy tendrils as Fabrizio had expected, but a thick mass of dark hair that looked oh so soft. Fabrizio had just set eyes on the man and his hands were itching to touch it. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt, burnt orange suede jacket and two long necklaces for accessories, but the look suited him perfectly. Fabrizio had never seen a more beautiful man in his life.

He watched as the man spoke to the maître d’ and was directed towards his table. Fabrizio felt his throat close nervously and rubbed his hands on his trousers before standing to greet his date. “Hello!” he blurted out too loudly, the chair making a horrendous scraping noise on the tiled floor as he pushed it back.

The man frowned at his outstretched hand. “Hello” he replied warily.

“I’m Fabrizio.”

The man’s face remained blank, and this was not the right time to admire his straight nose, clear pale skin and those eyes so dark that they were almost black. Fabrizio’s rapidly beating heart stuttered to a halt and he swiftly lowered his hand, realising that he’d made an embarrassing error.

“I…I’m sorry. I was supposed to meet someone…I’m on a blind date, I…I thought it was…” _Shut up Fabrizio!_ As if he hadn’t made enough of a fool of himself.

The stranger’s frown deepened for a moment before suddenly his expression cleared. “Oh! Uh, Fabrizio, did you say?” he asked. He nodded and the man chuckled, tapping his forehead. “Sorry, for some reason I had Fabio in my head. I’m Ermal” he said, extending his hand.

Fabrizio gratefully shook it, noticing as he did so what beautiful hands Ermal had. He’d never had any appreciation for hands before- there was generally nothing erogenous about them- but only a blind man could fail to admire the smooth skin, long fingers and perfectly manicured nails of Ermal’s. He let go before he could be caught staring too long, and sat down. Ermal took a seat across from him and smiled. When he did so, his eyes crinkled adorably and he showed off a full row of perfect teeth. Fabrizio wondered how he was going to make it through dinner without all the blood rushing to his face.

“Have you been waiting long?” his date asked.

“No, not really. Only about ten minutes” he said. Now that he was here, the wait didn’t seem long at all. Ermal pulled an apologetic face. “I am sorry to be late. Traffic in this city, you know…”

“Yes, I know,” Fabrizio assured him. “Would you like some wine?”

“I’d love some.” Ermal picked up the bottle. “Hmm, what’s this? Cabernet Sauvignon.” He poured a glass and gently sloshed the liquid, sniffing gently. “Ah yes, I’m getting top notes of currants and black cherries with…oak scents underneath.”

He took a sip as Fabrizio watched, partly fascinated and partly confused, and then Ermal turned to him. “Yes,” he remarked in the same overly sultry voice. “As I expected, it tastes like jam.”

Fabrizio burst out laughing from surprise, which quickly turned to amusement when he heard Ermal joining in. Nearby diners were looking at them and they struggled to keep the volume down, resulting in some very inappropriate squeaking noises escaping from Fabrizio’s throat.

“I take it that you’re a wine connoisseur?” he asked.

“Me? God, no. I read the label” Ermal retorted, and then started laughing again. He had a wonderful laugh, a dry cackle filled with light-hearted mischief. Fabrizio wanted to make him laugh again as soon as possible.

“Well, you fooled me.”

“Did I?”

“Up until the jam part anyway.”

Ermal grinned and then put his chin in his hand, looking at Fabrizio across the table and smiling gently. “So have you been on a blind date before?” he asked.

“No,” Fabrizio shyly fiddled with the stem of his wine glass. “My friends put me up to it. They thought it was time I get back out there.”

“Are you just out of a break-up?”

“Not really. It was a few years ago, but I haven’t really dated since because…”

He’d been about to say that it was because he was too busy with the children, but stopped short. He looked at Ermal, who was clearly younger than him, whose clothes were new and pristine with no sign of years-old decorative stains, who knew enough about wine to play around with it. This was not a man to whom he could confess that he was a father on a first date. Maybe on the second, if there was one.

“Well, I’ve been busy” he concluded instead.

“I feel lucky to be the first. I’m sure a handsome man like you would have no trouble on the dating market” Ermal remarked. Fabrizio chuckled and rubbed a hand over his face.

“What about you?” he asked. “You’re a good-looking man too. What made you decide to go for a blind date?”

Ermal smiled and shrugged, and Fabrizio thought he looked almost self-conscious. “I don’t like dating,” he admitted. “At least I don’t like having to sell myself like it’s a job interview. I guess…I’m hoping to miss the worst part because at least blind dates are interested in…something, even if it’s not me.”

“Have you been on many?” Fabrizio asked.

“Hundreds” Ermal replied seriously. Fabrizio frowned at him. “Okay, not hundreds,” the other man conceded. “I eat in restaurants most Saturdays though. It’s something to do to get out of the house.”

So he had competition. He immediately sought refuge in the menu. “So what kind of thing are you looking for? From a date, I mean. Do you mind me asking?”

“Not at all. I suppose I want someone good-looking, first of all. Call me shallow, but there has to be attraction. Someone intelligent is very important, someone that I can debate things with, someone with a good sense of humour would be nice, their own place, able to pay their way…”

“You have high standards” Fabrizio interrupted, too amazed to help himself. Ermal was talking as if he was on the hunt for someone to marry! Good grief, was he able for this challenge?

Ermal shrugged. “There’s not much point in having anything else,” he said. “So tell me what you’re looking for.”

“Honestly…Just someone kind, someone that I can talk to. I want companionship more than anything. No strings attached. If I enjoy their company, it’s good enough.”

“Ah, there we differ,” Ermal remarked. “I’ve never been much good at having sex without getting emotionally involved.”

“Who said anything about having sex?” Fabrizio queried innocently, and watched the other man’s face turn pink.

“I…I mean…Sorry, I just…” Ermal chuckled shyly. It was the first hint of vulnerability beneath his armour of self-confidence, and was immediately endearing. “Sorry, never judge according to your own standards” he finished with an apologetic wave, dismissing his words from the table.

Fabrizio allowed a second to go by before adding, “Obviously sex would be nice as well.”

Ermal burst out laughing, so forcefully that he bounced off the back of his seat. There it was again, the wonderful infectious giggle that Fabrizio had wanted to hear. He grinned proudly. It took a few seconds for Ermal to get his amusement under control, blissfully unaware of the attention he was attracting from other tables. Fabrizio beamed at his fellow diners. Of course they were looking. Ermal was the brightest spot in the room, a ray of sunshine that cast light over the whole restaurant.

“Okay, obviously kindness is important. That goes without saying,” Ermal said. “What I mean is that it’s better to be single than be with the wrong person.”

“Absolutely, I agree with that.”

“I’m getting a bit old to mess around with things that don’t lead anywhere.”

Fabrizio smiled and swirled the wine in his glass. “I think I’ve gone in the other direction. I don’t have enough time for a real relationship. Too many balls in the air, I don’t need another one.” He shrugged and took a long gulp, draining the glass and immediately starting to pour another.

“Demanding job?” Ermal asked. He looked and sounded genuinely interested.

Fabrizio nodded. “You could say that. Technically I have two jobs.”

“Wow, I admire your work ethic. I only have one, but it’s pretty busy as well. However, I do love it and a wise person said that you never really work if you enjoy the job.”

“True,” Fabrizio conceded. “It can still be hard at times though.”

He thought about Libero leaving his football kit at his mother’s house on the day of a match, Anita spending twenty minutes of a school morning trying to decide whether she wanted a ponytail or plaits, the harvest hamper he hadn’t been told about until the morning it was required and the Angel Gabriel costume he was commissioned to make for the Nativity play. In many ways fatherhood was more about responsibility than fulfilment, but he would still never be without his little ones.

“So what do you do for work? Sorry if that’s a boring question” Ermal added.

“It’s not. Actually, I’m a singer” he said.

“You are?”

“Yeah, I go by Fabrizio Moro. You probably don’t know me.”

“I know you,” Ermal replied. “I hear you on the radio sometimes. _Sono solo parole_ is my favourite.”

“Oh…Well, thank you.”

“You look different with glasses,” Ermal added, looking down at his plate. “But better. I don’t mean that you don’t look good normally, but the glasses are nice.”

“Thanks. And what do you do?”

“I’m a songwriter,” Ermal looked up at him. “A lot of the big names are in Rome so I came here to make my fortune.”

“Cool,” Fabrizio nodded, genuinely impressed. “Maybe you could write a song for me some time.”

“I’d like to,” Ermal beamed at him, and then his smile turned to a mischievous smirk. “Only if you let me sing it with you though. I’m thinking about launching my own career instead of helping other people.”

“I’d have to hear your voice first, but that’s definitely an option” Fabrizio teased.

“What a good networking opportunity this was. I’m so glad I sat down” Ermal retorted.

They were interrupted by a waiter approaching the table, asking if they were ready to order. In all the excitement Fabrizio had barely looked at the menu and he swiftly glanced down, randomly selecting the first thing his eye fell upon. Ermal chose “beef brule” which upon its arrival turned out to be a simple steak with pesto sauce. Fabrizio’s meal was an awesome vertical affair of bruschetta, chicken, basil, sundried tomatoes and mozzarella. It was absolutely delicious.

“So you said you moved to Rome?” Fabrizio asked conversationally. “Where’s home?”

“Bari.”

“I’ve never been there. Is it nice?”

Ermal immediately launched into descriptions of his home city, the sea, the beautiful Old Town, and then carried on with what was clearly his favourite feature of Bari- his family. Fabrizio heard all about his mother, brother, sister, niece, the last of which was a huge point in Ermal’s favour. He talked about her with such affection that there was hope he wouldn’t run for the hills when he heard about Fabrizio’s situation.

“You’re close to your niece then?” he probed.

“Oh, she’s the light of my life” Ermal declared enthusiastically.

“Would you like children of your own?”

He looked up from cutting his meat. “Wow, we’re asking the big questions on a first date?”

“I don’t mean it like that. I just wondered. I apologise if it’s too forward. You don’t have to answer.”

Ermal ran a hand through his hair and raised a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “She’s the closest I’ll ever get to being a parent. It’s not the path for me. I’m an honorary uncle for a lot of my friends’ kids though. And you?”

Fabrizio wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking- whether he wanted to be a father or if he already was- but this was his best chance to tell the truth and he found that he wanted to. The option of another date or two in a bubble was nice, but he wanted to give Ermal everything necessary for an informed decision and he wanted him to say yes, he would like to see him again anyway.

“I have two, a boy and a girl.”

“Oh!” Ermal sat back in surprise. “So that relationship…It was serious.”

Fabrizio felt his heart sink. “Yeah.”

“Can I ask…?” Ermal began and then stopped, filling the rest of his sentence with a cautiously inquiring expression. Fabrizio could guess what he meant.

“We stopped being partners and just became the other parent of our children. It was difficult, but it wasn’t fair on either of us to be trapped in a relationship with no love, and better to do it when they were still young and we were still friends.”

“That’s very mature.”

Fabrizio released a breath, realising that he’d worried about Ermal’s reaction and feeling pure relief that he understood. “Thank you. I don’t know why I’m telling you such personal things,” he added. “You’re just very easy to talk to.”

“Thanks,” Ermal smiled with genuine happiness now. “So are you. And that’s not something I say about a lot of people.”

“Same here.”

By silent, mutual agreement they lifted their glasses and toasted each other over the table, and then burst out laughing at their strange moment of telepathy.

“Do you want to get dessert later?” Ermal asked, the words coming out quickly. Fabrizio’s heart lifted with joy. “Yeah, I would.”

The rest of the meal seemed to fly. The food was gorgeous, but the only thing Fabrizio seemed able to concentrate on was the affectionate look in Ermal’s eyes, and the warm feeling in his stomach every time he caught the other man’s gaze. They lingered at the table for a while to give their food time to settle, and when the waiter returned, Fabrizio told Ermal to order whatever he wanted and they’d share. A slice of chocolate fudge cake in vanilla ice-cream was duly delivered, and between the two of them, the whole thing was successfully devoured. Fabrizio hadn’t finished a restaurant’s dessert since he was in his twenties and felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

“Hey Fabrizio, do you think we should go?” Ermal asked quietly, as they nursed their drinks. The wine bottle was empty and once these glasses were drained, there would be no more reason to stay. Fabrizio had found himself glancing at the remaining liquid and feeling reluctant to make it disappear.

“Do you want to?” he asked.

“No, but I think they do.”

Ermal pointed behind him and Fabrizio, for the first time in over an hour, looked at something that wasn’t his date. The restaurant was completely empty. All of the staff were standing next to the cash register, some of them wearing coats.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so…I didn’t realise. Excuse me, the bill please?”

He didn’t need to ask again. The bill was on their table within ten seconds and both men reached into their jackets, only to pause when they saw their action mirrored. It was a little like the prelude to a Wild West shootout.

“I’ll pay” Fabrizio said.

“No, I brought money. We can go half.”

“Really, you can pay for the next one.”

“Will there be a next one?” Ermal inquired, smirking. Fabrizio smiled nervously. “Maybe, if you want one” he said, attempting to echo the flirtatious tone. Ermal looked at him for a moment and then sat back in his chair.

“Okay, you can pay.”

Fabrizio had never been so happy to hand over his debit card. He left a generous tip to make up for the servers’ late night, and both he and Ermal beat a hasty retreat outside. They walked together to the corner and then stopped, Ermal turning towards the pedestrian crossing. This was where their paths diverged. This was where they said goodbye. They both stood in the middle of the pavement, hugging themselves against the wind.

“Thank you,” Ermal spoke first. “I had a really good time tonight.”

So that was it. Of course it was. It was a first date, far too early to invite him over, but Fabrizio felt that he could have kept talking to him all night. “So did I,” he answered. “To be honest, I didn’t think I would. My friends chose well.”

He stepped forward and opened his arms. Ermal let him, but he was stiff and uncomfortable within the hug, and Fabrizio stepped away quickly.

“Fabrizio…”

He’d been about to go, but turned back. “Yeah?”

“You were really honest with me and I appreciate that, so I have to be honest with you. I’m not your blind date.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I told you that I eat in restaurants on a lot of weekends. I never said I went with anyone,” Ermal explained. “I’ve lived alone since I moved here and I still haven’t got used to it. When you thought I was your date, I just went with it because I wanted to eat in company for once. I really got along well with you though and I’m sorry that I lied, and that I kept you away from your real date, but I’d like to see you again.”

Fabrizio tried to think back, looking for clues. Yes, Ermal had seemed not to be expecting anyone when he arrived. He hadn’t known what was going on until Fabrizio had said he was there for a blind date. As the truth became clear, he felt his heart begin a slow descent towards his stomach, until he thought of something else. Nobody had ever come over to the table to ask what he was doing there, to kick him out and take his place, and Fabrizio realised two things at once. First, his date had never shown up and Ermal had saved him from utter humiliation. Second, even if they had, he would have turned them away and remained talking to Ermal.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It was still a blind date, wasn’t it? I can’t imagine that I could have enjoyed myself more with anyone else.”

Ermal started to smile hopefully. “Do you still want to meet up again?”

Fabrizio pulled out his phone. “Give me your number and we can text to arrange something.”

He typed Ermal’s number carefully into his phone, and then gave his own number. Ermal’s fingers flew around his screen at a ridiculous speed. He was clearly only doing that to show off. Fabrizio offered another hug, one that was reciprocated with more enthusiasm, and then they went their separate ways. Fabrizio had just turned the next corner when his phone flashed with a message.

_Next time is my treat. Cinema, bar or Jacuzzi? Tick as preferred and let me know time and date._

That man did not mess around. Fabrizio leaned against a wall and read the message once more. In a rush of devilment, he replied: _All of them in order. Drinks are on you._

Ermal’s superior typing speed meant the response arrived within a minute. _Shall I throw my apartment into the mix too?_

_I never sleep with someone on a first date._

_Who said anything about having sex? I was thinking about writing that song you promised me._

Fabrizio burst out laughing and was about type a reply when he saw Ermal was writing again. He waited patiently to see what would appear.

_Although technically it is our second date._

Fabrizio couldn’t help it. He blew a kiss at the screen and chuckled at himself. Libero found his habit of reacting to inanimate objects horrendously embarrassing, but it was safe to do on a deserted street.

 _See you soon. Have sweet dreams_ , he typed, and slipped the phone back into his pocket as he headed for home.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a comment or kudos. Thank you.


End file.
